Files Repository

This learning resource introduces environmental, social, and economic sustainability criteria across the hydrogen value chain. It explores key hotspots in hydrogen production, storage, transport, and end use, alongside responsible sourcing, supply-chain due diligence, transparency, traceability, and relevant EU policy frameworks. 

This resource explains how life cycle thinking supports circular decision-making for hydrogen technologies from raw-material extraction to end-of-life. It introduces the 10R hierarchy, including reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, and recovery and applies it to electrolysers, fuel cells, storage tanks, and related components.

This resource examines how circularity can be embedded in hydrogen equipment at the design stage. It covers modularity, design for disassembly, and design for recycling, showing how design choices can support maintenance, replacement, refurbishment, material separation, and recovery of components in electrolysers, fuel cells, and storage systems.

This resource explores ways to extend the useful life of hydrogen technologies through repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, repurposing, predictive maintenance, and second-life applications. It considers the technical, economic, safety, regulatory, and business-model factors that determine whether hydrogen components should be reused, given a second life, or recycled.

This resource introduces the recycling challenges and end-of-life pathways for hydrogen technology components, including fuel-cell and electrolyser stacks, storage tanks, and balance-of-plant equipment. It addresses material complexity, dismantling requirements, recovery of valuable materials such as platinum-group metals, and the particular recycling challenges of membranes and carbon-fibre-reinforced tanks.

This resource explores the role of critical raw materials, including platinum, iridium, nickel, titanium, and carbon fibrein hydrogen technologies. It examines material flows, supply risks, geographic concentration, circularity strategies, social impacts of extraction, and the relevance of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act for hydrogen supply chains.

This resource provides an overview of mechanical, hydrometallurgical, pyrometallurgical, and combined recycling processes used to recover materials from hydrogen equipment. It compares these approaches in terms of recovery yields, energy demand, environmental implications, technological readiness, and suitability for materials such as platinum-group metals in fuel cells and electrolysers.

This resource explains the EU policy and standards landscape shaping circular hydrogen infrastructure. It covers the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Critical Raw Materials Act, extended producer responsibility, digital product passports, life-cycle assessment standards, and their implications for circular design, traceability, and end-of-life management.